


It Truly Exists? AO3 Version

by NightHeartBattles



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-17
Updated: 2014-02-09
Packaged: 2018-01-04 22:47:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1086566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightHeartBattles/pseuds/NightHeartBattles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is me: Billie. I am 14. I live in New Zealand. I go to America for a movie audition. We visit Long Island Sound. I somehow end up at Camp Half-Blood. Along with other campers, I go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I meet all the characters that I used to think were fictional but have always hoped were real. I'm not crazy! Yay! How do I take this news?</p>
<p>Thanks to fan fiction.net writers Sweetpanda12 and NYC the Penguin for help with characters and plot line!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so began writing this ages ago (and the first few chapters can be found on fan fiction.net) but I brought it up again because.... well, just cause.
> 
> There are a few plot holes, and I've tried to fill them up, but because they've become quite ingrained into the story, there are still a few unfixable ones. Still, I hope you enjoy!

“Okay, girls! I know you’re all very excited for our upcoming trip to America!”

Of course I was excited. I was getting the chance to have my first real-life audition for a movie - Piper McLean in _The Lost Hero_! I knew I was probably nothing like the real-life Piper (I was sure she actually existed, no matter how hard my friends tried to convince me otherwise), but I wanted to give it a shot anyway.

“Now, today we’re going to spend this period discussing exactly what we’ll be doing there, such as the states and cities we’ll visit, the national monuments and hotels we’ll be staying in.”

Ms Parkes drew a large calendar on the whiteboard. This calendar covered two months of time - April and May! The group of us going were highly lucky. A group of people in New Zealand had offered the chance for a group of teenagers to go to America to audition for movie roles. We all auditioned for the chance to go, and got chosen! Even better, they were paying most of the expenses! We just had to pay for the flights to and from America!

“Now,” Ms Parkes began, “the first week is entirely audition phase one. We will be staying in a large house, four girls to a room. I will allow you to sort that out yourselves when we are done discussing this. The second week is the recalls, or, as they are sometimes called, callbacks. For those who do not get a recall, there will be activities planned at the house. We will, at one point, go to Washington DC. However, the other adults and I have agreed to keep most of what we are going to do a secret. However, at one point, we will have a day out in the country, walking, talking, having a picnic etc.”

“Where in America will this be happening, Ms Parkes?” Of course. My lovely, but infuriating, cousin, India, who used to live in Canada, had come back to New Zealand (finally!) at the beginning of this year. She was nice, pretty, smart, and had a similar sense of humor to me - we were almost the same person, cloned, but with different bodies. Of course she’d be the one to ask.

“Long Island Sound.”

My heart skipped a beat. This was my chance to find out if I was crazy or not. Ever since reading my now-favorite series, I had seen... things... everywhere I went. My friends all thought I was crazy. My not-so-close friends thought I should see a psychologist about my ‘hallucinations.’ My close friends just accepted me for who I was. My cousin, however, one day actually quietly admitted to me that she had been seeing things too. Then, a boy I dance with started looking over his shoulder everywhere he went. I knew something was up. I might have been crazy, but I wasn’t dumb. Going to Long Island Sound would prove to me whether or not I was crazy - if I could see Camp Half-Blood, and my cousin could too, I wasn’t crazy. If I could get in there... a dream come true.

“Billie.” I heard a voice.

“Billie!” Startled, I looked up.

“Class just ended!” CJ, one of my best friends, was standing next to my desk. I realised I must have been daydreaming. I walked out of the classroom with CJ, India, Meg, Mickayla and Soph, with Camp Half-Blood and demigods still on the brain.

 


	2. The Airport

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At The Airport (pretty self-explanatory)
> 
> Or... I pack to many books, Rylie is jealous, Jack is #158, and Indi cuts off my circulation.

“Billie, Courtney, hurry!” My mum called up the stairs. “You don’t want to be late!”

CJ and I were hurriedly grabbing suitcases, backpacks and any other last-minute things we thought we might need in America. For me, that meant the box set of the Percy Jackson series, along with my e-reader for the Heroes of Olympus series.

“Seriously?” Courtney said incredulously as she caught me stuffing the box and my e-reader into my carry-on bag.

“Yes, seriously!” I snapped.

CJ looked hurt.

“Sorry,” I said, calming down. “But, me and planes...”

She nodded her head sympathetically and forgivingly. “I get it,” she replied, proving, yet again, why she was one of my best friends in the entire universe.

“Thanks,” I said. CJ always understood whatever I was going through. Our little group had a silent pact: “Whoever’s being picked on is the ruby. The rest of us make up the steel walls of the vault. They’ve gotta get through the rest of us to get to her.” For us, this meant that we’d always have each others backs, and whatever one of us was going through, the others would be there immediately to help out. We never truthfully criticised each other. We were like a family. We were sisters.

“Come on, CJ!” I said excitedly. We grinned at each other and raced each other down the stairs. It was quite hard; we were both carrying a large suitcase and a carry-on bag each. I won, though. 

“Girls,” my mum began, “get in the car, I’ll be there in a sec!”

“Okay, Mum!”

CJ and I ran out to my mum’s little metallic-baby-blue car. We both jumped in the back. Soon after, my little sister ran out of the house, complaining about how unfair it was that we got to go to the USA for two months, and she had to go to school.

“This is so not fair!” she grumbled, pouting.

“Life’s not fair Rylz, now build a bridge and get over it!” I laughed as Rylie stuck her tongue out at me. I stuck my tongue out back at her. Call me immature, I don’t really care. She gave a little ‘hmph!’ and crossed her arms, pouting.

We dropped Rylie off at school before turning back and driving to the Christchurch International Airport. All the way there, I was freaking out. I’d never been in a plane crash, but the turbulence was always bad. I hate planes for more than one reason. One, I hate small spaces. Two, I hate heights. And three, I hate being suspended off the ground. So planes are like my worst enemy - besides a couple of girls I met when I was nine and ten respectively.

“It’ll be fine,” my friend tried to reassure me. Key word: tried. No matter what she said, I could not calm down.

* * *

Arriving at the airport, we checked in before saying goodbye to my mum. I hated being on planes without her. She was the only one who could calm me down. CJ and I navigated through the airport to where all one hundred auditionees ***** were supposed to wait. Finding our group of girls, we sat down to wait.

I felt a tap on my shoulder. I whirled round only to see my best guy friend smiling down at me.

“Jack!” I said. “You auditioned to audition?”

“Yep,” he stated simply, nodding. He seemed calm, but I could tell he was excited, but just as scared of the plane trip as me. One look at his eyes could tell you that much. 

“Hey, CJ!” he said.

“Hey!” My bestie was Jack’s third cousin, 42nd cousin, however you want to say it. Fast version: CJ’s great-grandmother was Jack’s great-grandmother’s sister. So they’re related.

“So,” I began, “what character are you auditioning for, and which movie are they from?”

“I’m not really auditioning for anyone...” he said. “I’m just... auditioning. Preferably an extra though; when you were twelve I told you I didn’t really want to be a movie star...”

I remembered him saying that. Oh, for those who don’t know, I’m almost fourteen. CJ’s just fifteen, Meg is fourteen, Mickayla is fifteen, Sophie is fourteen, and India and Jack are almost sixteen.

“So,” Jack said. “Who are you guys auditioning for?”

CJ answered first, “Like you, not really anyone in particular. I just want to participate.”

Jack nodded in agreement. “And you?” he turned to me.

“I’m a little more ambitious than you guys...” I said.

“Go on,” CJ said.

“Well, although it’s a long shot, as I’m a year or so younger than the character, I was hoping to audition for Piper.”

“You’re sure to get her! You can do brilliant accents, even though you’re kiwi! Remember, when you were nine, we recorded you and Emma Watson saying the same line, and no one could tell the difference!”

I shrugged non-committedly*. I wasn’t too sure - Soph was also auditioning for that role.

“What movie?” we all asked.

“Is it a series or a once-off?” I asked.

We all said, “Series.”

“What movie?” CJ asked me.

“Heroes of Olympus,” I replied.

“Me too!” she squealed. I was glad to finally find out. She wouldn’t tell me, no matter how much I bugged her.

“Me one-hundred-and-fifty-eight!”

I raised my eyebrow at Jack.

“What? ‘Me three’ just sounds so boring, don’t ya think? I wanted to make my response sound more interesting!”

CJ and I laughed at his twisted piece of logic. Soon, Jack was laughing too.

“Soph, Meg and Indi are all auditioning with us,” I said. “Meg’s like you guys: she’s not really going for a specific part. Soph’s going for Piper or Reyna. I know it’s weird, but they’re auditioning for the Son of Neptune now too. I think they’ll be filming side by side... Anyway, Indi’s going for Hazel Levesque. I think she suits the part.”

Jack and CJ agreed. With her dark hair and golden eyes, Indi was the perfect Hazel. You’re probably wondering, But India’s almost sixteen! Hazel is thirteen! Well, Indi was premature, so she’s small for her age. She’s shorter than me, and always has been.

* * *

 

Soon we were ushered onto the plane. I managed to catch my other friends’ eyes. They struggled towards us.

“Hey, Jack,” Sophie said, before talking to all of us as we walked. “Aren’t you guys, like, so excited?!” she squealed. Meg clamped her hand over Sophie’s mouth to keep her from squealing again.

“Thank you, Meg,” Jack and I said in unison.

India grabbed my wrist and proceeded to drag me, along with the others, to the front of the group.

“We’ve got a whole section of the plane to ourselves, so we can sit anywhere we want,” she informed. “If we want good seats near each other, we’ve got to be at the front!”

India dragged us through the gate and onto the air bridge. Pulling us along that, she had a very determined look on her face. 

India finally let go of my wrist when we had sat down in our perfectly chosen seats. I looked down at my hand. There was a large red mark around my wrist where she’d grabbed it, and I noticed I could feel my hand. Huh, I thought, I hadn’t even noticed it was numb.

I glared at India. Not a mean glare, more of a joking one. It still scared her.

“You cut off my circulation,” I growled menacingly.

“S-sorry!” she squeaked. “I won’t do it again!”

I held her gaze for another beat before glancing at my other friends. They all looked like they were holding back laughter. I didn’t bother trying. I burst into giggles, my friends joining in.

“Did you see... her face?” Sophie choked out.

“Yep!” Meg giggled. “Billie was all like, you cut off my circulation, and Indi was all like-”

“S-sorry! I won’t do it again!” Jack finished in a falsetto high voice. That didn’t do much to help us get over our giggles. India glared at us, but we kept laughing. Soon, Indi caved in and began laughing too. I vaguely noticed the other auditionees watching us like we were crazy. Then again, they weren’t wrong.

“May the seven teenagers in row 16 please end their laughing fit? Thank you.” We froze at the sound of the voice over the loudspeaker before bursting into silent giggles.

Ting! I looked up to see the seatbelt light on. I quickly fastened my seatbelt and gripped my chair. Jack did the same.

“Are you guys scared or something?” A voice whispered from somewhere further down the row. I turned to see Lachlan, the famed thirteen-year-old gymnast from my performing arts school. His electric blue eyes were filled with confusion.

“Yes,” I replied. “We’re both terrified.”

I knew who Lachlan was auditioning for. Basing just on his age, you’d never think he’d even have a chance for the part. But, though he was young, in a year he’d really shot up. He’d gone from the blonde-haired, muscled, short kid, to the blonde-haired, muscled, tall kid in just over a year. He was taller than me now. That annoyed me a little; I was almost a year older than him! 335 days older! Yes, I counted. Get over it. Anyways, Lachlan was auditioning for Jason Grace in the same movie as me - the Lost Hero. Jason’s the main character in that, and Lachlan actually has a really good shot at getting it. I was so excited when I heard that the Heroes of Olympus character ages would stay true to the books - that really annoyed me about the Percy Jackson series. It meant that we had a chance of being in it! It was also really exciting when I found out the movie producers were going to allow Kiwi kids to audition.

Looking back on that, I found myself sitting in my plane seat humming the chorus of a song I used to sing when I was younger.

‘Kiwi kids are rockin’ it, rockin’ it

Kiwi kids are tops!

Kiwi kids are livin’ it, livin; it,

Look what we’ve got!

Kids can do anything, anything

Give it a try!

Kiwi kids are rockin’ it rockin’ it,

Just watch us fly!’

I noticed Jack staring at me weirdly. I quickly stopped singing. 

The plane jerked forwards. Jack and I gripped our armrests, our hands touching. I gripped his left hand with my right as he gripped the armrest between us. He looked up at me, confused, but didn’t say anything.

The plane continued to roll forwards. It started off slowly, then began to get faster and faster. Jack squeezed his eyes just. A millisecond later (okay, maybe longer than that) I did too. Suddenly, I felt the plane’s wheels leave the ground. We were in the air. And I was terrified.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. I don't have a beta (nor do I want one; I prefer to edit my own work), so all mistakes are my own, and I apologise if any mistakes are actually undecipherable.


	3. She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Beginning Of The Flight
> 
> Or... Jack & I sit still, my subconscious gets on my nerves, I debate Jack's family, and we go in to land.

I sat in silence, rigid in my seat. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Jack was the same. Neither of us had moved since the plane took off, even though we had been flying for two hours. I let my mind wander, but unfortunately it kept shooting back to the same thought: Jack and I were holding hands. I felt awkward, but I didn’t dare move. I knew I’d never be able to move; I was much too scared. Besides, I didn’t know how it would affect him - he might completely freak out.

_Ooh, somebody’s got a crush_ , said a nagging voice in the back of my head.

Shut up!

_Why? Tormenting you is so fun_!

Oh, get a life!

_Technically, I am a part of you, so_...

Mmm... what should I name you... Juliet or Teri? I know! A combination: Teriet!

_Teriet? Uggh, that’s ugly_ *.

I know, that’s the point.

_Why are you so mean to me? Please change it! Please, please, please!_

Not until you shut up!

_NEVER!!!_

Then at least talk without making any sound!

It felt so weird having a conversation with myself. I must be going crazy, I thought.

_Yes, yes you are_ , Teriet said.

Okay, Teriet sounds too weird... from now on you are... She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!

_NOOOOOO!!!!!_

I ignored SWMNBN* and continued to sit in silence.

At one point I realised that the plane had gone very quiet. I dared a quick glance around at my friends. Sophie, Meg, Mickayla, Courtney and Lachlan were all asleep. Sophie had fallen asleep in the middle of doing her make-up. Her oversized box of make-up sat on the tray in front of her, and only one eyelid had eye shadow on it. I stifled a laugh. I didn’t want to wake the others. India was reading. I couldn’t see what it was. All I knew was that it was a very big book. She adjusted in her seat, and I caught a peek at the cover. Of course. She was reading The Son of Neptune. Why wouldn’t she be? It’s the movie she was auditioning for, after all. I stared back at the seat in front of me. I didn’t now how long we had been flying, but I was getting restless. It was times like these I was glad I wasn’t Percy Jackson, or even Leo Valdez. My ADHD was much milder. Lucky me. Not lucky Jack. I think it was only his fear that was keeping him from moving around a whole lot. His ADHD wasn’t too bad, but it was worse than mine.

About an hour later, I noticed I was getting really bored. I carefully and deliberately pried my left hand off of my armrest, my right still firmly clenched in Jack’s fingers. I used my left hand to put my tray down, and picked up the book that I had placed on my lap in advance. Thinking ahead was always a good thing. My book wasn’t as thick as Indi’s but it contained the same characters. I was reading Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Titans Curse. It was odd. Lachlan was Nico at the beginning of the book, and Jack was Nico at the end. Lachlan was a hyperactive, easily excitable ten-year-old when he was younger. Now, he was still hyperactive, but just a bit less peppy. Jack, on the other hand, went from being an idiot to being hardened and emotionally guarded and strong. It wasn’t very often that he let his guard down, but I could tell that sometimes he really fought to keep it up. I often wondered what had happened to make him like that; so closed off, and seemingly strong, yet probably the complete opposite. I mean, he had an awesome family. He had an elder brother, and two younger half-sisters. He and his brother looked really alike, but neither looked anything like their sisters. The two boys had black hair (or was it super-dark brown? I couldn’t tell) and medium-brown eyes. The two girls, one aged twelve and the other aged ten, had long blonde hair and warm, chocolate brown eyes. You could tell that the girls were sisters; that was obvious. But when Jack had told me and the others that they were only his half-sisters, it wasn’t as large a shock as I’d expect something like that to be. It actually seemed kind of obvious in hindsight. 

I forced myself to switch my focus from my guy friends to my book. It wasn’t as hard as I’d expected. I guess I’d used up all my thoughts on that topic. Or maybe it was because The Titan’s Curse was a really good book. 

I opened my eyes to find most of my friends sitting up and talking. Jack was asleep. I was glad he’d finally relaxed enough to rest. It was surprising though; his hand was still tightly clenched around mine. I was surprised I could still feel my fingers, but I was mostly surprised that his grip was so strong while he was asleep. I wanted to move, but I didn’t want to wake him.

The seatbelt light dinged. I turned on the TV in front of me and checked our flight progress. We were there. I gently shook Jack’s shoulder to wake him up.

“Wait, what?” he said groggily, removing his hand from mine to wipe his eyes.

“We’re landing,” I told him.

“Oh,” he replied. “Oh, okay.”

I could slowly feel the plane lowering. I stared at the flight progress screen, watching the altitude reduce. We were slowly entering the airport. Half of me wanted to speed up the descent, to get it over and done with, but my other half had decided that slower was safer, and therefore, not as terrifying.

As we neared the ground, Jack grabbed my hand. Sophie looked over at us with an eyebrow raised. I shook my head slightly at her.

And 3...2...1... touchdown! We had finally landed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit short. Sorry, all my chapters are between 1000 and 2000 words long. Sorry if this annoys you, but it's just the way I write.
> 
> *She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (though I'm sure you figured that out)


	4. Girlz Rule!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Accommodations
> 
> Or... we land in LA, Jack & I discuss hallucinations, and the girls make the boys wet their pants.

We walked through the airport in groups: a girls’ audition group with a boys’. Jack and Lachlan’s group was put with mine and my friends’. Sophie, India, Mickayla, Courtney, Meg and Lachlan talked avidly as we walked. They discussed all sorts of things: the auditions, the possible hotels, possible sightseeing, and everything else that you might talk about when you’re in the LA airport for the first time. I was glad to see Mickayla, Courtney and Meg talking; they were usually quite quiet. Jack and I walked in silence, still with the group, listening to the conversation, but not inputting any ideas of our own. We had both been to LA before, so some of the conversation topics at first were a little boring. However, after a while, the topics moved from LA to the auditions, and then to Manhattan. Everyone wanted to explore the two very large cities thoroughly; they were so enthusiastic I didn’t know if there’d be enough time to see and do everything everyone wanted to see and do. It might sound crazy, but, apart from the auditions, I was anticipating the walk around Long Island Sound the most. I voiced these thoughts to Jack, and I was surprised with his answer.

“I agree,” he said, nodding his head. “I know what you mean about seeing things. I constantly feel like I’m being followed.”

“I know - you’re always looking back over your shoulder,” I told him.

“That obvious, huh?” he said. “Anyway, it’d be nice to know I’m not hallucinating. If we can see this place, we’ll be able to live our lives knowing we aren’t delusional. If we could get in... we’d know that our lives would never be the same again.”

We walked in silence for a few minutes after that. I didn’t even pay attention to the group’s conversation. I was too busy thinking about what Jack had said - what I was thinking about Long Island Sound. I was glad, and extremely anxious. I was glad because it was nice to know that someone out there felt the same way I did. And I was anxious because I kept thinking, _What if we don’t see it? What if we actually are hallucinating?_

I shoved that thought to the back of my mind. After all, you can’t audition without a clear head, can you?

* * *

 

“Okay, listening please!” Ms Parkes called out to our two groups. Well, really we were just one big group now.

Our teacher continued, “This is where we will be staying for the next two weeks! Now girls, I noticed there are fourteen of you, so do we have two groups of three girls?”

Our little group of six put up our hands.

“You know who you’re with?”

We nodded.

“Good. Mr Pooch, the boys?”

“Okay, guys,” Mr Pooch began, “We have three to a room. I have taken your considerations into account, and here are your groups: Isaac, Matthew and Jake, Reagan, Ben and Josh, Kieran, Oliver and Luke, and Daniel, Lachlan and Jack. Choose a room on the left of the hall and unpack!”

“Yes, sir, Mr Slimdog!” the boys chorused, saluting, before marching - yes, marching - down the hallway

Yeah, Mr Pooch was pretty cool. Though the boys never called him that. To them, he was Mr Slimdog - and it was catching on with the girls.

“The same with you girls, but on the right,” Ms Parkes called.

We walked towards the door to the rooms, chatting excitedly.

* * *

 

I thumped my bag down on the window bed. Our room consisted of: a single bed by the window, a single bed on the wall by the door, and a bunk bed on the other wall by the door. I had the window bed, obviously. CJ had the wall bed, and Meg was sleeping on the bottom bunk. We’d just finished unpacking the essentials when Soph, Indi and Mickayla walked in.

“Hey girls!” Sophie said excitedly. 

“Hey!” the three of us (me, Meg and CJ) replied.

“Whatcha doing?” India asked.

“Nothing,” Meg replied.

We sat in silence for a moment. Then, Indi’s eyes filled with a mischievous glint. I knew enough about her to instantly be worried.

“What is it?” I asked her tentatively.

“Boys. Prank. I think you get my drift...”

We mimicked her mischievous grin with grins and smirks of our own.

“Okay, someone shut the door,” Sophie ordered, switching into her not-often-seen ‘business mode.’ “Indi, you’re the leader. We’ve got a prank to plan!”

* * *

 

Indi and I snuck around the back of the building we were staying in. We peeked through windows to see if we could recognise any of the boys’ things. They were all still at dinner. We had eaten quickly and left the dining hall early, just for this. We both had pillowcases slung over our shoulders. These sacks were full of things for the “BHA-BP” - the Brilliantly Horrifying Against-Boys Prank. We were carrying fart bombs, cans of whipped cream, fake spiders and cobwebs, fake snakes, fake stuffed eagles, and one put-it-together giant, mechanical Chimaera. Don’t ask me how Indi got ahold of these things - I don’t know myself. She wouldn’t tell me, or any of the others.

* * *

  _“Okay, so, who can get the things we need?” I said. “If we have to, we can split the items between us.”_

_“I can get everything,” Indi said._

_“Everything?” CJ asked incredulously._

_“Everything,” Indi vowed, nodding._

_She wasn’t lying, either. Not half an hour had passed after she left, she arrived back with boxes stuffed full of everything we originally asked for, plus more (including the Chimaera)._

_“How did you get that?” I asked, stunned._

_“Don’t ask,” she replied. “I just did.”_

_“Yes, but how?”_

_“As I said before, don’t ask,” she responded, an annoyed tone creeping into her voice. “I can take all of this back, you know.”_

_We didn’t ask again._

* * *

 

The boys’ room was easy enough to recognise. Daniel’s hair gels and moisturizers and colognes smothered the floor. I briefly wondered what the others thought about this, and decided I didn’t want to know. As Indi was the smallest, she handed me her sack and slithered through the small gap between the edge of the window pane and the wall. Silly boys - they should have known better than to leave their window open when we were around. Upon infiltrating the boys’ bedroom, Indi quietly opened the window all the way so the sacks of ‘practical laughter-creator tools’, as Indi liked to call them, fitted through. I squeezed the two sacks through the gap, and Indi placed them on the ground silently. Then, I climbed through. I wasn’t as nimble as Indi, so she had to stop me from falling flat on my face through the window. After that, it was easy. We set everything up in record time - five minutes for the Chimaera, and another five for everything else. We easily sneaked back out of the window, closing it back to the way it was, and ran back to our room (which we climbed in through the window. Inside our room, we walked back to the dining hall for dessert, claiming we had just been to the bathroom (which was totally believable, as there was only one toilet in the closest bathroom, so the time we took was reasonable), and sat down at our seat, not once showing any signs of having done anything more unusual than going to the bathroom.

The six of us wandered back to our bedroom slowly, chatting about all sorts of things. We all walked in to my bedroom (though it’s not just mine) to talk while we waited. We didn’t have to wait long. Just twenty seconds after we sat down, we heard screams coming from the boys’ room. We laughed silently for two seconds, then stood up and left the room, pretending to be curious, and to have had nothing to do with it, just like everyone else was truthfully behaving. We pulled it off pretty well, I have to say. Though, all six of us were actresses - it was our job to be good at it.

We ran down to the boys’ room, only to see Jack staring wide-eyed at the eagles, snakes and spiders, Lachlan attempting to rip the Chimaera to pieces, and Daniel... I didn’t know why he was screaming. I found out pretty soon though.

“My hair gels!” he cried. “My moisturizers, my colognes... they’re all GONE!”

Onlookers (including us), couldn’t help but laugh. Yeah, Indi and I had hidden all of his beauty products.They were all still in the room, and I could see most of them from where I was standing, but Daniel was too blinded by his ‘catastrophe’ to notice. The other five girls and I exchanged glances, before splitting up to help the boys. CJ and Meg were helping Jack by picking up all the fake creatures and throwing them out the window. Indi and Mickayla were dragging Daniel around the room, helping him ‘find’ his beauty products. In that short glance, we’d decided that Indi and I should split up to help find things (meaning the products and the switch to the Chimaera), since we were the only two who knew where everything was. Sophie and I searched the automaton Chimaera’s body for the switch. At least, Sophie searched. I just pretended to - I already knew where it was. After a little bit of ‘searching’, I ‘found’ the switch and turned the Chimaera off. Indi and Mickayla had managed to round up everything belonging to Daniel, who was clutching it tightly (though I had no idea how he managed to carry it all), and CJ and Meg had gotten rid of the invading animals. Then we went to bed. Not really. It took a while for everyone to calm down and stop laughing, and after that, we got into our pajamas, had hot chocolate, brushed our teeth and then went to bed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to the boys for the humiliation... esp. Daniel. He used to gel his hair, so I exaggerated his younger self and made it a few years older (so, his age now + one year).


	5. Accents, Pencils and Beauty Products

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first audition and sleeping on the roof.
> 
> Or... We use fake accents, Jack draws a studio, I sleep on the roof and discuss seas versus the air, and Daniel doesn't understand our jibes against his hair products.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Umm... not much to say about this one. Except to point out the Jack-the-real-person is not ADHD, though Jack-the-character-in-my-story is.

Finally. Today was the day. We’d spent months memorizing scripts and perfecting accents, and today was the day we were going to prove to all those Hollywood big-shots that kids from little ol’ New Zealand had just as much right to be movie stars as kids from the US or England. 

Saying I was nervous - now that was the biggest lie I’ve ever heard. Usually, I was nothing but excited when it came to performing or auditioning - but this morning I felt like I was going to be sick. Two girls and three guys actually were! It was only nerves though, so they were still allowed to audition. 

A few things were motivating my friends and I to do well in, and actually finish (without being sick), the auditions. The first was the driving ambition to prove that New Zealand had just as much talent as anywhere else. But the other reason was our bigger one: the need to perform. I know, I know, shouldn’t wanting recognition for our country be more important? Well, no. We’d rather perform and have everyone forget that we were from New Zealand than not perform at all. So yeah, performing was more important.

Sitting on the bus, driving to the studios where the auditions were being held was, and there was only one word for it, excruciating. My friends and I had decided that we were going to talk in any accent EXCEPT a Kiwi accent on the bus ride, so it was quite funny hearing the range. Jack kept switching back to an Australian accent - and laughed every time he said the short vowel ‘I’, as in ‘it’. I swapped between three accents - generic American, of course, plus my two home accents (that aren’t Kiwi), which are UK Cockney and UK British. It was always fun to fool around with accents. After a while, we began to talk in other accents. I had no clue how we'd managed to pick them up. I assure you, we weren't mocking any nationalities - the accents were actually really good. At one point we tried out Scottish, then Irish, then a real Southern American tone. It was a bit odd hearing my friends talk with accents I'd never heard them use before - though I guessed we probably all thought that. I loved being able to just hang out with all of my friends. I knew that if any of us got a role, we wouldn’t be able to do anything like this for a long, long time. It was kind of sad really, and I found myself savoring the moment.

* * *

The studios were amazing - and we were only in part of the whole complex. Most of it (as in 99% of it) was shut off. We simply got to see a couple of the recording rooms used for animation movie voices and three story-board meeting rooms. Oh, and a giant conference hall with a whole lot of tables, each seating 6 people. To get an idea of how big it was, you need only know one this: all 100 of us kids (plus 8 adults) fitted in there with 10 tables left over. So it seated 168 people.

I hate to admit it, but everything was really hard to process. Being ADHD made taking things in hard. Well, it was actually really easy to take in and process - but hard to remember as I noticed all the little things.

* * *

 

We were shut in part of the open section of the studios, while the three storyboard rooms were being used for auditions. Three people auditioned in each room at a time, and for three hours each. After much pestering, Jack and I found out that we weren’t needed for another three days. As today was the first day at the studios, we were allowed to explore the available rooms. As Jack and I wandered, we talked.

“I’m finding it really hard to remember everything we see,” he admitted.

“Me too,” I replied. “I’ve been wondering how we’re going to write today’s journal entry if we can’t remember everything.”

“That might be a problem,” Jack agreed. “I wish we were allowed to keep exploring the storyboard rooms. There were so many brilliant drawings, however sketchy and rough they may be.”

I was struck with a great idea. “Jack - draw everything!”

“What?”

“Draw what you can see!” I repeated. “That way we can copy of the drawings for our journal entry!”

His eyes lit up with excitement. I knew I had come up with a great idea. Jack loved drawing, as much as I loved to write, if not more.

We ran back into the meeting room and Jack grabbed a small sketchbook and a pencil case from his bag. Our first day at the studios was spent sitting in a recording room, singing while Jack sketched everything around us. And by everything, I mean everything. I enjoyed sitting on the floor, watching Jack draw. Every stroke had a meaning, every brush of the pencil had life in it. I was mesmerised. Jack didn’t dismiss any line as small or worthless; each line was as important as the next. We sat like that for three hours, Jack drawing, me watching. Occasionally I’d point out something he missed, but mostly I let him get on with it. After the first hour, I could do nothing but sit and stare, enchanted by the forms the pencil lead marks were turning into. It felt like a spell had settled over the room; neither one of us dared break the silence. But that didn’t matter. The room was bewitched, I was enthralled, and we were both content with the quiet.

* * *

The house was quiet. The stars shone, and a small thread of moonlight slipped through our curtains and onto the grey carpeted floor. I couldn’t sleep. I sat on my bed, my knees pulled up to my chest, my cheek resting on my kneecaps. CJ and Meg slept soundly, unaware that I wasn’t in dreamland like them.

A light breeze drafted through our slightly-open window. The cool wind felt good. I was struck with an idea. It wasn’t exactly original, as I had read about it in a book, but I liked it all the same. I pulled my sheet from my bed and grabbed my pillow before sneaking over to the window. I pushed it open wide, and slipped between the frames. 

Outside, I felt free. I tied my sheet around my waist and held my pillow between my teeth. Gripping a pipe, I hauled myself up onto our windowsill. I continued climbing from there, scaling the wall. I passed the second floor windows, and gripped the gutter pipe on the roof. Straining my arm muscles, I pulled myself onto the flat, slightly-sloped roof. I sat my pillow on the concrete and laid down, staring up at the stars. I was surprised I could see them - there had been a lot of clouds that morning. 

Up on the roof felt really peaceful. I was alone, the breeze sliding over my bare arms, keeping me cool, and I felt like I was going to fall asleep. 

Footsteps on the roof made me jump. I looked up to see Lachlan staring up at the stars.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” he asked. I didn’t know what to say, but it didn’t matter, as Lachlan continued as if I wasn’t there. “I love the sky,” he murmured. “It’s ever-changing. The sky is never the same. There’s always something different.” He looked at me then, before speaking once more. “It’s a bit like the sea, without the restless attitude. Ever-changing.” The last two words were spoken in a whisper. 

The thirteen-year-old walked over and sat beside me before asking, “What do you think?”

“Ever-changing is a good way to describe the sky,” I replied. “There’s always something different. Not out of place - just different.”

Lachlan hummed in agreement, and I continued, “It’s not like the sea. The sea is ever-changing too, but it’s restless, colourful, and dangerous. The sky is calm, mysterious and beautiful. I still love the sea, though,” I tacked on as an afterthought.

“Of course you do,” Lachlan chuckled.

“I still don’t get why you like flying so much,” I commented. “At any moment, you could plunge to your death.”

Lachlan replied, “Well, you could drown in the sea.”

“Touché.”

We sat in silence for a while, before I noticed Lachlan looked like he was trying to force himself to stay awake.

“You really should sleep,” I told him.

“Don’t want to move,” he mumbled in reply.

“Well then, just wait here.”

Before he could protest, I had swung myself off the roof and was clambering back down the wall. I dashed to my bedroom and silently dragged the pillow and blanket from the spare bed before climbing out of the window and scaling the wall again. When I reached the roof, Lachlan was fast asleep, his head resting on his left arm. I lifted him up and slid half of the sheet under him and the other half I laid over him. I gently raised his head and slipped the pillow under him before resting his head down on it.

Quietly, I set up a ‘bed’ for myself in the same fashion, before laying down on my back and counting the stars.

* * *

 

It was very early morning when I woke. I heard movement coming from the room below me - which was the female adults’ room. I knew they’d be checking all of the bedrooms to make sure everyone was awake soon. I glanced over at Lachlan. He was still asleep. I easily roused him and together we scrambled down the side of the building and parted so that Lachlan could run around to the other side of the dormitories.

When I entered my shared bedroom, Meg and CJ were still asleep. I watched them with a small smile on my face before turning to my small set of drawers that housed my clothes. After a short five minutes of contemplating what to wear, I’d decided on a simple black knee-length skirt, black leggings, my sea-green chucks, a simple, plain black t-shirt, and a denim jacket with a black dragon sewn on the back. The dragon’s one visible eye was made from a sea-green rhinestone. Once dressed, I strode over to where CJ slept and poked her in the back until she woke. Knowing that Meg was a very deep sleeper, we sneaked into the bathroom and filled up a glass of water each. We creeped back into the bedroom and over to where Meg was sleeping soundly. Silently, I looked at CJ and nodded. Together, we mouthed one, two, then yelled out ‘THREE!’, tipping the water over Meg’s head. She woke up, spluttering, and attempted to glare at us. We all burst into giggles when she failed miserably.

Compared to my ten minutes getting changed, Meg and CJ randomly grabbed clothes and threw them on. 

We walked down to the dining hall to find most of the kids already there. Only Daniel was absent, and I laughed inwardly at the most likely reason for him to be late. I whispered my theory to Meg and CJ, who laughed quietly as we walked to the table our friends sat at.

“What are you laughing about?” Sophie asked.

“Daniel,” CJ replied.

“What about him?” India asked. Jack and Lachlan had caught on, but the others didn’t.

Meg told her, “Just a reason he may be late, involving hair gels, moisturiser and other beauty products.”

Our whole table was fighting back laughter, and was still giggling when Daniel arrived and sat down. He looked at us confusedly and said, “What?”


	6. Neptunian and Venusese

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My Audition
> 
> Or... I'm audition for an American character, my friends argue over their favourite gods and goddesses, and we find out that Jack is scared of unicorns.

Today, I was nervous. Really nervous. And by really nervous, I mean almost positively petrified. Almost. In case you didn’t guess, today was my audition day. I’d like to say the few of my friends auditioning today as well were less nervous and able to give me support, but if I said that, I’d be lying. Jack, India and Sophie were all just as nervous as I was. We weren’t really much good for each other’s nerves. Meaning we sat in silence, staring at the walls of the bus, unmoving. At one point, Lachlan actually said, “You look like Medusa caught you!”

When he said that, Jack, India and I flinched and glanced at each other. Lachlan frowned, but didn’t question us. I was grateful for that.

* * *

However relaxing the first day at the studios was, today was the complete opposite - times 10. There was another hotel group with us that day. There were only four from our hotel group - me, Jack, Sophie and India. We didn’t speak to anyone, and no one spoke to us. In a way, I was grateful for that. I thought that if anyone tried to wish me luck, I’d burst into tears and run crying from the room. I didn’t want that.

Sophie was first to go in. She came out positively buzzing, super confident she’d gotten a role - if not a main one, but simply a camper or a Legion member with a line or two. India was second. She came out with a small smile on her face, and said that she thought she’d done okay, but that even if she hadn’t gotten a role, she’d done her best, and she was proud of that. One of the accompanying adults congratulated her on her state of mind, but that was just India. She never expected much, and always congratulated people on ‘doing their best’, even if something went terribly wrong. Jack was called in about thirty seconds before I was. However much I tried to comfort myself, and fake some confidence, a part of me still wanted to run away and never come back again. I’d never been more nervous in my life.

My audition was being held in the room Jack and I had sat in on the first day. A small window connected this room to the room Jack was in though it as soundproof and I couldn’t hear anything going on. He saw me through the window, and I gave him a thumb up to wish him luck. He smiled and imitated me before turning back to the person instructing him. I did the same, and vowed to myself to focus.

“What is your name?” the man auditioning me said.

“Billie Roberts,” I replied with a confident smile.

“How old are you?”

“Fourteen.”

“Are you auditioning for a particular role?” he asked.

“Yes. I originally wrote down to audition for the role of Piper McLean.”

“Do you have any expectations?”

“Sort of. I’d like to gain a role, any role, but if I didn’t I wouldn’t fly off the handle. Of course I’d be upset, but that’s human nature, right?” I smiled again, shaking off the nervousness.

“Okay,” the man said, writing down my responses. “Now, to begin, I want you to read this monologue. It isn’t from the movie script, but was written for the auditions. Here.” He handed me a small piece of paper with a paragraph of writing inked on it in pink.

I began to read:

_Hi, I’m Piper McLean. I’m a half-blood, though the technical term is a demigod. My father is... I don’t really want to say. As for my mother, she’s a goddess. I’m not about to go and tell you which one, but let’s just say no one was expecting her to be my mother. I currently live at Camp Half-Blood, Long Island, New York. I have a few half-siblings, most of whom I love. There is one, however, I’m not so fond of. Her name’s Drew. She’s a... diva, I guess. She used to be cabin counselor, and ran the group like a dictatorship, until I came along. I’m cabin counselor now, thanks to my trusty knife Katoptris and my two best friends, Leo and Jason. We went on a quest to save the goddess Hera, though I was a little reluctant, considering what she’d done to Jason. We succeeded, though Jason was almost killed. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, we saved my dad from an evil giant before heading off to save Hera. So, yeah. Then, of course, we had six months to wait and train while Leo built a huge Greek flying warship, the Argo II, before me, along with Jason, Leo and another girl, Annabeth, had to fly to San Francisco to collect the other 3 that were part of a terrifying prophecy. I have to say, apart from all the near-death experiences, it was quite fun. And no, Aphrodite, I did not care that I didn’t shower for over a week at one point. So much for ‘like mother, like daughter.’_

* * *

 

I walked out of the audition room and back to the waiting hall to find Sophie and India in an animated discussion about the pros and cons of different gods and goddesses. Sophie believed Aphrodite to be better than Artemis, while India thought differently, though both agreed that Hermes and Apollo tied for the two best gods - Sophie thought Apollo would be extremely hot (and she was extremely boy-crazy), while India liked the thought of prophecies and healing, and India liked Hermes because of what he ruled, while Sophie decided that ‘guys with a sense of humor were hot.’ For her, hotness was one of the biggest things she considered in a boy. Personality came second for her.

I cleared my throat and the pair jumped. I put on my ‘thinking face’ and gave their discussion a little consideration before voicing my own thoughts.

“Well,” I began, “I agree that Apollo and Hermes are awesome, but when it comes to Artemis and Aphrodite, I believe that they are about equal to each other. Aphrodite is the goddess of love and beauty, but you shouldn’t take that to mean ‘falling in love with guys’ and ‘being the most gorgeous.’ Artemis is great, because she rules the moon, night and wild animals, but I think swearing off boys is a little extreme. If it wasn’t for the alien species we call males, we wouldn’t exist!”

“Who’re you calling alien?”

All three of us jumped as Jack walked up behind us. 

“Just caught the end of your conversation,” he grinned, “And I believe that it is not males that are the alien species, but the weird creatures we call unicorns.” He shivered. “I swear those things never resided on Earth! I believe they must have come from Jupiter!”

I considered it for a moment before saying, “No, I believe they must be a mix of Neptunian and Venusese. 

“I agree,” Jack conceded, guessing my logic. “Neptune, or Poseidon, created horses, and I can imagine Venus, or Aphrodite, wanting horses to have a little more... um... a little more...”

“Awwww!” Sophie guessed. “Or, in English, ‘Cute Factor’?”

“Exactly!” India exclaimed. “Cute factor! I can definitely imagine Aphrodite deciding to give horses a little more ‘cute factor’ and thus creating the unicorns.”

“That must be it,” I said. “After all, horses with pointy horns are definitely cute, aren’t they?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in case he sees this - No, just like he isn't ADHD, Jack-the-real-person is not scared of unicorns. In fact, the unicorn is his favourite animal!


	7. Blonde, Bronze and Grey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Hellhounds
> 
> Or... Recalls are given to those who deserve them, we visit a strawberry farm, I find out I'm not hallucinating and there may or may not be a hellhound attack.

Monday was a pretty exciting day. The teachers had been given a letter containing a list of those who had been asked for a recall. The letter read:

 

_To the International Children’s Acting Association New Zealand Ambassadors,_

_We would like to see the following children back at the studios for a recall this week:_

_Sophie Grey_

_Lachlan Ici_

_Hannah Justin_

_Daniel Mitchell_

_India Nightingale_

_Luke Reed_

_Billie Roberts_

_Jack Sands_  

 _Also, we would like to ask if the following students would like to be campers from Camp Half-Blood (in The Lost Hero), members of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata at Camp Jupiter (The Son of Neptune), or children in the Wilderness School (also The Lost Hero). The teens do have small roles:_  

 _Megan Blake  
  
_ _Courtney Marcell_

_Kane Syre (please notify us if you wish to act as one of the venti)_

_Xavier Syre ( _please notify us if you wish to act as one of the venti)__

_Any other students of yours who would like to be extras are welcome to be a part of our movies. Please email us a list of the students who would like to be a part of this._

_Thank you,_

_International Children’s Acting Association Head_

_Brian Woods_

* * *

The next couple of months passed in a blur. We were constantly moving between recalls, group activities, and eventually, cities, and I only had one word to describe it all - exhausting. Sure it was fun, and a little nerve-racking, and exciting, but by the end of our stay in America, I just wanted to lie down and sleep for a whole week. I was so tired, I hardly paid any attention to anything the instructors said. I knew that ‘The Last Olympian’ was still in production, so it may have been a year before work began on Heroes of Olympus but I was grateful for the break. I did, however, come out of my stupor when the teachers announced we were going to Long Island Sound for the day. I noticed Jack sitting up straighter too, and I have to say: I was excited. Oh yeah, and completely terrified.

* * *

The drive out to Long Island Sound was boring. Jack, India and I were constantly looking over our shoulders out the back window of the bus, and out the windows on the sides. We all knew what the other two were thinking, or at least had a general idea. Half of me was hoping we didn’t see the camp. That way, we could live knowing we were hallucinating, maybe get help, and we’d know we were safe from such a terrifying world. The other half of me was telling that half to shut the hell up, and was trying to convince it that seeing the camp was the best thing to hope for. I mean, who wants to know they’re delirious? We didn’t talk much, and no one pestered us to. We’d occasionally pitch in on a conversation, but other than that, we stayed silent. The bus ride was noisy, and we didn’t stop the whole way there. The teachers had decided we should walk part of the way, so we jumped out of the bus before setting off on the hour-long journey to the beach. 

We walked and walked and walked, until finally, the teacher announced we were there. We laid out rugs and picnic blankets and settled down for lunch. Just before we left to walk back to the bus, I looked back towards the strawberry farm one last lime, and saw a flash of bronze and a swish of blonde hair, before seeing a pair of analyzing, shocked grey eyes staring back at me. One look at India and Jack, and I knew they’d seen it too. I decided we mustn’t have been hallucinating. I wasn’t too sure how I felt about that.

The ride back from Long Island Sound on the bus was just the same as the ride there - except this time, it wasn’t anxious silence India, Jack and I sat in. It was shocked silence. We simply sat and stared, earning a few worried glances from our peers, but whenever they tried to ask us what was wrong, we simply waved them off, saying we were fine, not once actually turning to look at them.

* * *

Back at our hotel, Jack grabbed mine and India’s wrists and promptly dragged us away. He led us down towards the river, and into a small cave. We sat down and made ourselves as comfortable as possible before India broke the silence.

“You guys did see that too, right?”

Jack and I nodded.

“That bronze...” I began.

“Sword,” India said, knowing my question before I asked it. “I just managed to see the whole thing from where I was sitting.”

I nodded in thanks, and Jack did the same.

“What did you think of those eyes?” Jack asked.

“They scared me a little,” India admitted.

I nodded in agreement. “They were so intimidating. It looked like she was trying to figure out what we were thinking by staring at us.”

“Probably was,” Jack decided, lying down on his back, staring at the roof of the cave.

“I wish we could have stayed longer,” I mentioned after a moment’s silence. 

“Yeah,” India said. “We could have found out who that was!”

“And why we’ve been seeing things,” Jack added.

I sincerely hoped we weren’t just imagining something else.

* * *

There were five days before those without recalls or parts were due to return to New Zealand. The rest of us were staying in America, traveling around and returning to the studios when we were needed. We didn’t go out much during this time. Instead, we played all sorts of trust and drama games. A few favourites were ‘Honey If You Love Me Smile’, ‘Picture Postcard’, ‘Space Jump’ (and all sorts of versions were played of that one) and ‘Party Quirks.’ The trust games weren’t so fun, but my friends were glad to know that I trusted them so much that when you do the trust fall thing, my upper back/lower neck was hitting their knee. And I did trust them a lot. I think I’d trust them with my life. And those last five days were some of the best in my life.

* * *

It was three days after those without recalls left America that it happened. I’m wasn’t sure how it happened, why it happened, or even exactly what happened. But it did.

We were walking around New York, visiting different places and just having a good time in general. At one point, we were allowed to walk around in smaller groups, so me, Indi, Sophie, CJ, Meg, Mickayla, Daniel, Jack and Lachlan decided to wander around together. We were just passing a large apartment block when there was a loud bang. We turned around to see a poodle standing behind us. I closed my eyes and shook my head before opening my eyes again. My eyes widened in shock. One look at my friends told me I definitely wasn’t seeing things. I mean, if you can see something strange, and eight of your friends see it too, it’s highly unlikely you’re hallucinating. I took slight comfort in that. But only a little. Because standing in front of me, glaring, was a huge black dog, as big as a truck. A hellhound, according to Greek mythology. Slightly stupidly, I looked it in the eye, trying to show I wasn’t scared. And I wasn’t scared. Much. Okay, I was terrified. But I tried not to show it. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Jack glaring at it.

All of a sudden, he growled, “Shut up, and don’t talk that way about me and my friends!”

The dog looked at us confusedly, before opening its mouth into a huge doggy grin, and licking Jack up the whole length of his body. 

“Hey!” he cried indignantly, trying desperately and unsuccessfully to remove the dog slobber that covered him from head to toe.

I heard a laugh coming from somewhere to our right. I whipped my head around to see a boy, perhaps eighteen or nineteen years of age. His messy black hair flopped into his eyes, and he was laughing really hard. At us, I figured. He walked up to the dog and began petting it. 

“You don’t have to be scared,” he said, still petting the dog.”Her name’s Mrs O’Leary. She’s she only tame hellhound in the-”

He broke off as a large, low growl echoed somewhere to our left. All ten of us whipped our heads around and stared in shock as about five more dogs, just like Mrs O’Leary, only meaner, stalked through the trees towards us.

Before we could do anything, they darted towards us. Jack, Lachlan and I bolted out of their reach before analyzing the situation. The owner of Mrs O’Leary had done the same. Our friends weren’t so lucky. They were lying crumpled on the ground, unconscious, while the four of us stared in shock. I felt a little proud of being the only girl to stay conscious, but I shoved that feeling aside. I hoped the boy would do something - he looked like he was experienced in this. Much to my dismay, he ran inside the apartment.

 _Coward_ , I thought, as I dodged to the side, trying to outrun a hellhound. It turned out, he wasn’t a coward at all. He came dashing outside, three swords in one hand and a pen in the other. As he handed me a sword, I looked at him quizzically, but he just shook his head in a gesture telling me not to ask. I turned back to the monsters, sword in my hand. Holding a weapon made me feel a little better, but not much. I’d never used a sword in my life, at least not where it wasn’t partially rehearsed. I’d fought alongside Lachlan and Jack, and against them both as well, during recalls and practices for recalls. So I kind-of-ish knew what I was doing. But not really.

The monsters charged. I thought the three of us did pretty well, considering we’d never fought something like that before. It was all going okay, well, as okay as things could be going when fighting a monster that’s out to kill you, but all of a sudden, my sword was ripped out of my hand. I watched in horror as it skidded across the road. I stared, terrified, as the giant dog knocked me to the ground with its huge paw. My head hit the road, hard, and I could feel myself blacking out.

I saw Jack scream, “Billie!” though I didn’t hear him, and saw his sword, with which he’d just killed the dog he was fighting, flying towards me. I sat up and gripped it by its hilt and drove the blade up into the dog’s soft belly. As the black creature of hell landed with a thud and burst into a cloud of black dust, my left arm gave out and I fell onto my back, allowing myself to slip into unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually know someone called Brian Woods. Well, not really. He teaches at my school, and teaches a year 12 (11th grade) girl in my tutor group (don't ask me to explain. We have them instead of form classes, kinda). I wrote this, and she laughed when she saw his name. I didn't realise until she told me. Oops!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my friends (and cousin, Indi) who allowed me to use their names as characters when I couldn't be bothered coming up with my own when I began the story!! Especially Lachie (who appears in later chapters) because you were so enthusiastic about it! (Honestly, it was quite adorable!)


End file.
